Category Archives: Language School

The little ones in the house are very happy, anxiously awaiting a special date, September 9, because it’s the celebration of little boys and little girls in Costa Rica. Likewise, many adults with their inner child alive and well also like to celebrate this day.

On this special day, centers of education prepare an incredible day of fun for the little ones. Cultural and recreational activities are organized so that the kids can show off and have fun, dancing, laughing, playing games and smiling. And do you know what is the best part of this day? Yes, the sweets! The icecreams, bags of treats cake and best of all, presents!

With a day like this full of candies and being spoiled, wouldn’t you like to be a kid your whole life? Well I would! And clearly if you check your Facebook these days, you’ll see a ton of pictures of teenagers that say to each other, “We should’ve stayed small forever! We were such little angels.”

The important thing is to remember on this day our childhood and to fight for the rights of children in Costa Rica so that they will live and grow in a peaceful environment, with love around them, being educated and having the freedom that they deserve.

We can all agree that one day a year is not enough to express the love we have for our moms. And no gift that we choose can be great enough to perfectly honor the fact that our moms brought us into the world and have loved us for our entire lives.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are forever indebted to our mothers. That’s why every August 15th in Costa Rica we ask ourselves, and now what can I give my mom? We make a long list in our minds of possibilities on the market, which bombards us with options of different products that would obligate us to set aside a big chunk of our paycheck to finance the endeavor. Which is the best gift: perfume, a blouse, a purse, an electronic or maybe a massage?

Let’s stop for a moment and analyze the situation. They dedicate their lives to see us grow up and be happy, without ever needing to go to a store and buy “love” to give us. The best Mother’s Day gift is all of the love, respect, understanding and dedication that we can shower on them. A few more days of the year should be dedicated to recognize the value of our moms, but the best thing would be to celebrate our moms each of the 365 days of the year…just because they deserve it.

32 students and community members took part in this month’s excursion. Travelers enjoyed the beauty of the magical Rio Celeste, located in the outskirts of the Tenorio Volcano.

At 7am the group anxiously started their journey to the Tenorio Volcano National Park. After arriving in the town of Bijagua, the scenery had already changed a lot. Green mountains and fields with an abundance of vegetation welcomed the travelers to the area. The group checked in at the national park and started making their way towards the river.

The long but pleasant walk ended with a great view of the marvelous Rio Celeste waterfall. The overwhelming beauty filled the hearts of the travelers who, after trekking through mud trails at an altitude of 1092 meters, had a chance to see the expanse of the incredible Rio Celeste.

After the journey through the national park, the group headed towards the Llano Cortes waterfall to cool off. While Costa Rica is a small country, it’s full of wonderfully beautiful hidden places. The goal of Estelar Viajes is to allow our travelers to enjoy these places while participating in a cultural exchange.

Want to know when our next excursion is? Join our Estelar Viajes group on Facebook.

On May 3rd, 1993, The United Nations declared World Press Freedom Day. It’s a day that commemorates and celebrates the freedom of speech and free press and the right to ethical, responsible information from the media regarding political, social, and economic topics.

Freedom of press is not a privilege in many countries around the world. Many people who are passionate about revealing the truth about corruption and living conditions in different countries have lost their lives trying to bring the truth to light.

In spite of the United Nations constant attempts, the fight for the fundamental rights to information, protection from censured information, excessive media surveillance, and secure internet journalism continues. These are all topics that the UN hopes to focus on and improve in 2016

We should value and appreciate our rights, and celebrate this day in hopes that freedom of press is made possible in all countries. Ethical and responsible communication has allowed many towns to avoid oppression from corrupt political groups and become sovereign governments.

The Estelar student of the week is…Omar! His English teacher Carrie from California, USA, says that “Omar, in my advanced class, is eager to learn and a joy to have in class! Thanks for always being prepared, willing to practice and to share your thoughts, Omar”☺

The Estelar student of the week is…Christian! His English teacher Carlin from Texas, USA, says that he is such a fun person to have in class. He works very hard to improve his English and he’s always willing to help his classmates. Overall, he’s a great student!

Today we tell about Michael’s experience living in the house of a Costa Rican host family. He has been living with the Ruiz family for a week now and would like to share his experience because, according to him, it is highly recommended.

Last Thursday evening, Michael arrived in Costa Rica. The plan was that the Costa Rican family would pick him up at the airport, but because of a misunderstanding, they were at the airport in the morning while Michael arrived in the evening. It was not possible for them to pick him up in the evening, so that’s why Bethany picked him up.

Once he arrived at the house, he was warmly welcomed. They live in a big traditional house with a lot of rooms, which is necessary since it is a large family. The residents consist of Señor and Señora Ruiz, their kids and grandkids, and a Señor with his daughter and her boyfriend from Cuba (where the situation is bad and many Cubans want to leave). The English is generally not that good. But the eldest daughter speaks English very well and the Señor and Señora speak some English too. With the rest, Michael cannot have extensive conversations, but that will only help him to improve his Spanish. They are very friendly as well.

Even with a big family living in the house, there is a coming and going of family members and friends. As a figure of speech; the door is wide open and used well. After a tour through the house and seeing his room, it was time to eat. They had all waited for him to arrive (even when this was later than planned due to a flight delay). The typical Costa Rican dish is rice with beans and some meat/chicken or eggs.

In Costa Rica they really take care of you, as this is an important value in their culture. They immediately consider and treat you as part of their family. This is a very pleasant feeling if you find yourself in a foreign country. You wake up in the morning and take a shower. When you get out of the shower, breakfast is already waiting for you. Are you happy with your room? If not, we have another room for you as well. Are you hungry? Do you like the food? If not we can make you something else. These are questions you hear a lot and it shows that they will do anything to make you feel at home. On Sunday, Michael immediately joined the family to visit the rest of their family who live in La Cruz, a city located near the coast, about an hour drive from Liberia with a spectacular view of the sunset.

One of the friends of the family, who speaks some English as well, took him out to some bars and the local football stadium. And he went out for some drinks with the oldest daughter and some of her friends, too.

The only hard part is that Michael barely speaks Spanish, but the family tries to help where possible and thanks to their friendliness and hospitality, he doesn’t see it as a problem. And as his Spanish improves, the fun will likely increase even more!